London 'tired of hard luck story' after Antrim defeat

London manager Michael Maher has said he is "tired of a hard luck story" after they fell short against Antrim in their Tailteann Cup premliminary quarter-final in Corrigan Park.

A victory over Offaly was the high point of the year for the Exiles but they suffered a heavy defeat to Galway in the Connacht Championship.

Picking up a win and a draw in the league – as well as some narrow losses – showed the potential for the side this year despite the ups and downs of the season.

Today's match was in the melting pot throughout until the Saffrons netted a goal to settle the tie in added-time.

Maher told RTÉ Sport: "We've been in these knockout games the last three years and come out the wrong side. Listen, the reality is we had 25 players today and every one of them went to the well.

"I thought we were unbelievable, really, really good. We gave away a couple of poor goals. Down the other end we created five, six good goal scoring chances. I thought we cut Antrim open at times and that's a really good Antrim team.

"We paid them ultimate respect, the amount of work we did analysis wise to try and find flaws in their game and it was tough to find them. They had plenty of strengths to their attack which we had to try and nullify.

"Look, after a disappointing game against Limerick last week, I think we were probably looked at as cannon fodder coming in today but I don’t think we were anything like that. I don't think a four-point scoreline tells the tale of that game.

"It was a last minute goal that gave them that kind of breathing space but up to that point we were. The game was there for the taking. We didn't quite get it but I'm really proud of the boys."

A black card for Cahir Healy was a setback – something which frustrated the London